This is a blog about my teaching, research and service with some occasional personal comments thrown in. These are my notes on a variety of topics. If you want to follow my blog posts on a specific topic, then see the Table of Contents in the right-hand column. While I try to work in the realm of facts, logic and moral absolutes, if there are any opinions expressed here, they are my own. -WilliamHartPhD

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Friday, March 24, 2017

In his book, Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends, Thomas McPhail defines the CNN effect as "the process by which the coverage of a foreign event by CNN causes that event to be a primary concern for its audience, which in turn forces the federal government to act." One could add to the U.S. government, then as part of its foreign policy, may influence foreign governments/peoples through direct action (e.g., war) or through sanctions. See video clip below.

Does CNN still have this influence on foreign policy? Any other news networks, U.S. or otherwise, have this influence? Any other form of media now has this influence? Think: Arab Spring (see first 2 minutes). Think: Kony2012 (see short clip). What role does social media play in shaping foreign policy? How's that process work?

The "social media effect" is defined here as the process by which the coverage of an event on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. causes that event to be a primary concern for its audiences around the world, which in turn forces foreign governments to act, thus further influencing the event.

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